The present invention generally relates to a card connector, and more particularly to a card connector interconnecting an electrical card with a printed circuit board (PCB).
Electrical cards are widely used in electrical devices for storing information. Generally, a card connector is used for interconnecting the electrical card with an electrical device. A related conventional card connector is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11066247. The card connector includes a housing and a plurality of terminals received in the housing. In use, the card connector is mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB) surface and a card-receiving space is formed between the PCB surface and a top cover of the housing.
However, with the trend of reducing the height of electrical card, the thickness of the conventional connector needs to be reduced by reducing thickness of the housing. Thus, it will not only add difficulty to manufacture the housing, but also weaken the overall strength of the connector. With the card being inserted or withdrawn repeatedly, the forces exerted on the housing will easily bend or break the housing. In addition, the card connector of the prior art is mounted on the PCB surface, thus the height of the connector above the PCB is too high.
Hence, a reliable and easily made card connector structure is needed to overcome the foregoing problems.
A main object of the present invention is to provide a card connector with reliable strength.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a card connector with simple structure and low profile.
The card connector according to the present invention includes an U-shaped insulative frame, a plurality of terminals retained in the frame, a top metal shell and a bottom metal shell interlocking with each other and enclosing the frame therebetween. The frame includes a transverse base and two perpendicular arms extending from opposing ends of the base. The terminals are retained in the base. The top shell comprises a top wall and a pair of intermittent sidewalls downwardly depending from opposing edges of the top wall. A plurality of locking holes is defined along the sidewalls of the top wall. The bottom shell comprises a bottom wall, a back wall and a pair of intermittent sidewalls upwardly extending from opposing edges of the bottom wall. A plurality of locking elements is formed along the sidewalls of the bottom shell corresponding to the locking holes. A card-receiving space is defined between the top shell and the bottom shell for receiving an electrical card therein. The metal shells structure is durable against forces exerted on the card connector, and it is easy to manufacture. In use, the card connector according to the present invention can be embedded in a cutout of a PCB, thus it will reduce the overall thickness above the PCB apparently.
Other objects, advantages and novel feather of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.